OROVILLE — An onslaught of high school and junior high school musicians from around Northern California will descend on Oroville on Saturday for the Northern California Band Association's Winter Guard Championship competitions.

For a few Oroville parents involved in organizing the event, excitement is building.

The Las Plumas-Oroville Band Boosters will host the event from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Band-student parent Bob Englund said things are hectic right now.

"We're expecting up to 90 bands," he said. "This is a big thing!"

Later Wednesday, band boosters president Mary Rudolph updated the number to 95.

Rudolph said bands from 75 high schools and 20 middle schools are registered to participate.

The competition is for winter guards (or color guards) who dance during marches, and percussionists who play drums, keyboards and marimbas.

The campus will be hopping with people. Rudolph said about 30 students comprise the Las Plumas-Oroville Band alone. Some schools have 50 or 60 students in their bands.

The Winter Guard Championship is the last event of the winter competition season.

Rudolph said the winter season usually begins in early March.

Las Plumas-Oroville placed first in two competitions last month.

Englund and Rudolph both indicated hosting the event is a big deal for Oroville.

Rudolph said it's a big deal because of the size of the event.

"Normally at competition there are 20 to 25 schools," Rudolph said.

The list of bands includes schools from the Bay Area, Concord, Sacramento, Lodi, Roseville and Santa Cruz, as well as others.

Locally, Paradise and Oroville are the only areas that have high school bands competing.

Asked how the band boosters are feeling as the event approaches, Rudolph answered, "We're a pretty small group of parents putting on a major competition."

She said a crew of about 100 people, including band students, will be dealing with dozens of school buses arriving, along with entourages and band directors. The crew will also be taking care of parking and ticket sales, and other tasks Rudolph didn't name.

"It's a pretty big deal," she said.

Admission to the event will be $10 for adults and $5 for children age 12 and under.

Reach Barbara Arrigoni at 533-3136, barrigoni@orovillemr.com, or on Twitter @OMRBarbara.